"Ao!"
Kakashi's expression stiffened instantly.
He hadn't expected this—Zabuza, the fugitive Mist ninja, somehow teaming up with the Mist Village itself to ambush them.
And not just any Mist ninja. Ao.
A veteran Jōnin, infamous for taking a Hyūga's Byakugan during the last war—his so-called "most valuable souvenir."
Kakashi's gut tightened.
If Kirigakure had gone this far, then the mission wasn't about Dazna at all. Something deeper was at play—something big enough to make enemies cooperate with traitors.
But what?
He exhaled slowly. "So, the Mist is desperate enough to crawl back to its own criminals now? Guess the Bloody Mist days are coming back."
He wasn't particularly worried, though.
Because somewhere behind him, hidden in the trees, was that guy.
Hidan.
The so-called "god of death" of the ANBU.
A walking migraine for the Mist, a name so terrifying that even veteran shinobi flinched when they heard it.
During his three years in the ANBU, he'd turned battlefield massacres into performance art.
The Mist had learned one lesson from him—if you saw the Black-and-White Reaper, you retreat.
Immediately.
Preferably screaming.
Even Mei Terumi herself—future Mizukage had listed him as Kirigakure's number-one threat.
So no, Kakashi wasn't worried about losing.
He was just annoyed he might have to deal with the paperwork afterward.
Ao's pale green eye glinted as he met Kakashi's gaze. Then his line of sight shifted—landing squarely on Sasuke.
Something greedy flashed there, quick and ugly.
"Purpose?" Ao said, voice calm, almost amused. "Since you're already caught in our net, I'll tell you."
He smirked and gestured lazily toward Sasuke. "Our target was originally just you, Kakashi Hatake. But imagine our surprise when we found you traveling with a bonus prize—an Uchiha with an active Sharingan! Honestly, we should be thanking you."
Zabuza scowled. "Less talk, more killing. You always run your mouth too much, old man."
Ao chuckled. "Patience. You'll get your fun soon enough. Once we bring back these three Sharingan eyes, you and Haku will finally be welcomed back to the Mist. No more running. No more bounty posters."
He reached up and peeled away the eyepatch covering his right eye.
The pupil beneath glowed white—the stolen Byakugan—its veins pulsing faintly with chakra.
The air tensed. Even the fog seemed to draw back.
--
Hidden a short distance away, Hidan let out a slow whistle.
"Well, damn. Didn't expect to see Cyclops Grandpa here."
He smirked. "Guy's still hoarding eyes like they're collector's items."
Konan, arms folded, gave him a side glance. "Are you going to do something, or just commentate like usual?"
"Observation is participation," Hidan said matter-of-factly. "Besides, he's not after me...he's after the knock-off Uchiha and the mini emo prince over there."
Also my step-son. Hidan added silently in his thoughts.
Wait... doesn't that mean it's...bad? He thought, then shook his head.
He'd be fine.
Let's wait and see.
--
"Targeting the Sharingan, huh?"
Kakashi sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose helplessly. With his level of deduction, he didn't even need to ask—it was obvious what the Mist's plan was.
They wanted eyes.
Again.
But what truly irritated him wasn't the ambush itself.
It was why they were here.
Because of that guy.
The man lounging somewhere behind him like a lazy god on vacation—Hidan.
Every single time, it was the same story. Hidan would wreak havoc somewhere, terrify an entire village, and then disappear before the reports made it back to Konoha. And somehow, the fallout always landed on Kakashi's lap.
He let out a dry laugh, exasperated. "Heh… figures. I take the hit, and he gets the legend."
He straightened up, pointing lazily toward the trees.
"Well, guess what, Hidan? Someone's here looking for you!"
Then, in a louder voice that carried across the field:
"Oi! You made this mess—come clean it up yourself!"
Hidan froze mid-stretch, half-asleep on Konan's back.
"...The hell?"
Konan arched an eyebrow. "He's calling you."
"Yeah, I got that part," Hidan muttered, sitting up and scratching the back of his head. "Didn't think my reputation would come with lifetime tech support."
He hopped off her back with a sigh, dusting off his cloak. "Guess I should go check on my fan club."
Across the field, Ao's composure cracked the moment he heard the name.
Every trace of color drained from his face.
Even Zabuza noticed. "Oi, old man. What's with that look? You see a ghost?"
Ao swallowed hard. "Worse. Much worse."
The name Hidan alone was enough to make him sweat.
He'd read the reports.
He'd seen the aftermaths.
A man who wielded the Mangekyō Sharingan.
A man who couldn't die.
A man who once wiped out an entire Mist platoon by himself—twice.
"Damn it," Ao hissed under his breath, his right Byakugan twitching nervously. "Of all the cursed places to run into him!"
Hidan strolled out from the mist like he was taking a morning walk.
"Yo~ someone called for me?"
His grin was wide and casual.
The mist ninja stiffened immediately.
Even Zabuza faltered slightly, his grip tightening around the Executioner's Blade.
This aura… wasn't normal.
Kakashi crossed his arms smugly. "Well, since you're here, you can handle your 'buddies'. I'm not babysitting this time."
Hidan blinked at him. "...You're actually dumping this on me?"
"Correct," Kakashi said. "They're here because of you. I'm just the innocent bystander with an unpaid mortgage."
"Wow," Hidan deadpanned.
Ao couldn't take it anymore. He spun around, shouting over his shoulder, "Zabuza! Haku! We're retreating! Now!"
"What?" Zabuza barked. "It's just one guy!"
Ao's face twitched violently. "Just one guy?! That 'one guy' is the Reaper who turned the entire Fourth Division of the Mist into fertilizer!"
Zabuza blinked. "…Oh."
Even Haku, calm as ever, seemed uncertain. "Ao-san, is he really that dangerous?"
Ao didn't even look back. "If you want to find out, be my guest. I'm out!"
And with that, the old Jōnin took off toward the sea faster than most people could blink.
Zabuza growled in disbelief. "Tch… coward."
A gust of wind blew through the trees, carrying the faint hum of chakra around Hidan's feet.
That same lazy grin turned into something much wicked—something that promised pain.
Zabuza's instincts screamed.
"…Haku. We're leaving."
Without another word, both vanished into the mist, their retreat faster than any technique they'd used in the fight so far.
Kakashi blinked once. "…Well, that was anticlimactic."
Hidan shrugged. "What can I say? My face has that effect on people."
However, Hidan didn't want them to leave so simply — after all, he still had to verify something from Ao's body.
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
A beam of crimson-white thunder shot out from a distance, tearing through the forest and piercing countless trees before reaching Ao's back.
Boom!
At the last second, the massive Executioner's Blade swung up and blocked the thunder light.
The strike sent a paralyzing current crawling up Zabuza's arm, and his hand trembled uncontrollably. The lightning didn't fade, it kept grinding against the sword, sparks bursting violently, until a visible crack appeared on the blade.
No matter how tough the Executioner's Blade was, it was about to be cleaved apart by that distant beam of lightning. It was a situation Zabuza had never faced before.
Ao also reacted instantly, cold sweat beading on his forehead. The lightning was far too fast. He hadn't activated his Byakugan — doing so would drain his chakra heavily, just like Kakashi's Sharingan. After all, he wasn't a true Hyuga, and using that eye came with a painful cost.
"Substitution!"
Just before the blade shattered, Ao's figure blurred — a perfect replacement.
Crack!
The red-white thunder pierced through the Executioner's Blade and Ao's stand-in, blowing it to ashes.
Boom!
White smoke spread as the log substitution disintegrated into several charred fragments, still smoking from the impact. Ao reappeared atop the lake's surface not far away, panting, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple.
If he'd been even half a second slower, his fate would've been the same as that log — nothing but ashes.
"Damn it!" Ao's expression darkened as he stared at the faintly crackling lightning trail, tracing it back to its source — Hidan.
Now Ao completely understood: leaving wasn't an option.
Running from that man was nearly impossible. The "god of death" didn't just chase — he hunted.
He turned to Zabuza and Haku, his face grim.
"Prepare to fight to the death. The other side is strong — possibly even beyond a kage."
Zabuza frowned deeply.
But even he had felt it — the way that lightning had almost split his blade.
That kind of power wasn't something you called ordinary.
Boom… Boom… Boom…
Konan's footsteps echoed rhythmically as she walked forward, Hidan lying casually on her back. But to Ao, each step sounded like the march of death itself... steady, slow, inevitable.
Rumor had it across the villages:
Konoha's Black and White Reaper was a half-paralyzed man who couldn't walk and relied on his beautiful attendant to carry him everywhere.
Hidan didn't mind... the misunderstanding amused him.
"Oh~ look how scared they are, I just wanted to keep watching the show," Hidan said lazily. "But someone broke the rules and dragged me out."
"...What rules?!" Kakashi snapped, veins bulging.
He wanted to argue but Hidan wasn't wrong.
"god of death!" Ao gritted his teeth, shouting across the lake. His face was tense, but his tone steady. "Let us go. From now on, Kirigakure will not pursue them again and we'll abandon any thoughts of taking the Sharingan!"
"Oh?" Hidan raised an eyebrow, amused. "You're negotiating now?"
He tilted his head slightly, an unreadable grin tugging at his lips.
"And what gave you the confidence to bargain with me?"
"Not to mention—what if I say... I refuse!"
Hidan's voice turned cold, his eyes gleaming like gazes from the abyss of purgatory.
Ao and the others broke into a cold sweat, feeling as if the temperature had dropped several degrees. Those eyes... the very same that once made the entire Hidden Mist tremble — now bore down on them with unbearable pressure.
Ao was speechless.
The conditions he had offered were already humble, yet the choice still rested in Hidan's hands.
There was no other way.
As a veteran who had survived the brutal Mist wars, Ao's resolve was firm as iron. His only chance was to fight to the death — and if he was going to die, he'd at least take that Uchiha brat down with him.
They couldn't allow Konoha to produce another god of death.
"Come on," Ao said helplessly to Zabuza, pulling out a shuriken as veins bulged around his right eye, his Byakugan fully activated.
Zabuza wordlessly began forming hand seals.
The lake beneath them surged violently as chakra flooded the water.
Beside him, Haku's hands blurred into a flurry of signs, his eyes calm yet determined.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Water Style: Thousand Flying Water Needles!"
A roaring water dragon and a storm of glimmering senbon rained down toward Hidan and Konan.
BOOM!
The twin techniques collided with a blazing red skeletal figure — a massive crimson Susanoo roaring to life. The explosion echoed across the lake, waves crashing wildly. Steam hissed in every direction.
But when the smoke cleared, Hidan and Konan stood untouched beneath the crimson ribs.
Ao's expression changed instantly. He seized the chance — while Hidan's attention was locked on the others, he dashed toward Sasuke, chakra flaring.
"Water Style: Azure Dragon Palm!"
Ao's chakra condensed into a massive dragon-shaped palm.
If that hit Sasuke directly, it would crush him — a sure kill for a genin-level body.
Unless, of course, that mysterious "protagonist's aura" decided to intervene.
But Kakashi was no spectator.
The moment Ao moved, Kakashi's fingers finished forming seals.
Lightning surged into his right hand, roaring like a caged beast.
"Raikiri!"
He met Ao head-on.
The blue lightning blade clashed with the watery palm and then sliced through it like paper.
Ao's right arm flew into the air, torn cleanly from his shoulder.
The sound of thunder faded.
Ninjutsu powerful enough to cut lightning itself no ordinary technique could ever hope to block it.
Splat!
Ao spat blood, body flung backward across the lake. He crashed hard onto the shore, half-conscious, his face pale.
The wound gushed freely, without treatment, he'd bleed out before long.
The old veteran of the Third Ninja War had finally reached his end.
Kakashi's right hand still crackled with lightning as he began walking toward him, eyes cold.
The former Anbu captain had no mercy for enemies.
To him, this was simply finishing the mission.
"Leave him to me," Hidan said suddenly. "You can rest now, Kakashi. He's still useful to me."
Kakashi paused mid-step. "..."
He looked at Hidan but after a short glance, he backed off.
He'd seen enough to know that arguing with Hidan was pointless.
Meanwhile, Zabuza and Haku stood frozen, pale as ghosts, staring at the crimson skeleton towering before them.
It burned with an eerie red flame that vaporized their water jutsu effortlessly... even the lake itself hissed under the heat, steam rising thickly into the sky.
"This isn't even a fightable opponent..." Zabuza muttered, swallowing hard. His gaze flicked to Haku, face set with grim resolve. "Run, Haku! I'll buy you time!"
Haku shook his head gently, for the first time ever, defying him.
"If I have to live without you, Zabuza-sama… then what's the point of my life?"
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